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Ann Eliza Smith
| birth_place = St. Albans, Vermont, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = St. Albans, Vermont, U.S. | resting_place = Greenwood Cemetery, St. Albans, Vermont | occupation = Author | language = English | nationality = American | education = | period = Late 1800s | genre = Novels | notableworks = ''Atla'' | spouse = | relations = Lawrence Brainerd | children = Edward Curtis Smith | signature = }} Ann Eliza Smith (pseudonym, Mrs. J. Gregory Smith; October 7, 1819 – January 6, 1905) was an American author and patriot. She was president of the board of managers for the Vermont woman's exhibit at the Centennial Exposition of 1876, at Philadelphia, and was frequently chosen in similar capacities as a representative Vermont woman. Her patriotic feeling was shown in the American Civil War, during the rebel raid on St. Albans on October 19, 1864. In 1870, Governor Peter T. Washburn, who had served as adjutant general of the Vermont Militia during the war, recognized her efforts to coordinate a response to the raid by presenting her with an honorary commission as a lieutenant colonel on his military staff. Early life Ann Eliza Brainerd was born in St. Albans, Vermont on October 7, 1819. The daughter of Senator Lawrence Brainerd and Fidelia B. Gadcombe, she was raised and educated in St. Albans. In 1842, she married J. Gregory Smith, who served as Governor during the Civil War. They were the parents of six children, including Edward Curtis Smith, who also served as governor. Author Smith wrote essays, poems and other works, and is best known for her three novels, Seola, Selma, and Atla. Her first published work, From Dawn to Sunrise (1876) dealt with the historical and philosophical religious ideas of mankind. Its success caused Henry K. Adams, author of A Centennial History of St. Albans Vermont to call it "the smartest book ever written in Vermont." Her second work was Seola (1878), which was written as an antediluvian diary. The next novel published was Selma (1883), a Viking love story. The third novel, ''Atla'' (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1886), was about the sinking of the legendary lost island called Atlantis. At least one reviewer, The Churchman, was highly critical of it:— In 1924, Seola was revised by the "Bible Students"—later known as Jehovah's Witnesses—and retitled Angels and Women. Smith wrote under her married name, Mrs. J. Gregory Smith. Both Seola and Angels and Women were published anonymously and are ascribed to her by the Library of Congress. St. Albans Raid On the afternoon of October 19, 1864, the northern-most land event of the Civil War occurred, the St. Albans Raid. Confederates infiltrated the town, robbed several banks, wounded two citizens (one mortally), and fled north to Canada. Since he was serving as governor, the home of J. Gregory Smith was a target of the raid. Governor Smith was not at home, and when Mrs. Smith appeared in the front doorway carrying an unloaded pistol (the only weapon she could find), the raiders decided to bypass the house. She then worked to organize the people of St. Albans to mount a pursuit of the raiders, which unsuccessfully attempted to prevent the raiders from escaping to Canada. For her actions in defending the Smith home and efforts to rally the people of St. Albans in pursuing the raiders, Governor Washburn named Mrs. Smith a brevet lieutenant colonel on his staff. Washburn, who served as governor from 1869 until his death in 1870, had served in the Union Army early in the Civil War, and then spent the rest of the conflict as Adjutant General of the Vermont Militia. Under Washburn's direction, units of the militia had attempted to pursue the Confederate raiders, and later patrolled the border with Canada to ensure there were no further efforts to conduct Confederate activities in Vermont. Smith wrote of her personal reminiscences of the St. Albans Raid in The Vermonter:— Death and legacy Smith died in St. Albans on January 6, 1905. She was buried in Greenwood Cemetery. The town of Brainerd, Minnesota was named in her honor. Selected works * Seola * The iceberg's story, 1881 * Selma, 1883 * Notes of travel in Mexico and California '', 1886 * ''Poems : "gather up the fragments", 1889 * Lines to a cricket, holograph poem found in the... by J Gregory Smith, Mrs., 1901 * Atla : a story of the lost island, 1886 * From dawn to sunrise : a review, historical and philosophical of the religious ideas of mankind, 1876 * Personal reminiscences of early life in Vermont : published in the St. Albans Daily Messenger, starting November 22, 1924 '' * ''Angels and women References Attribution * }} * }} * }} * }} * }} * }} * }} Bibliography * * External links * "In Search of Mrs. J. G. Smith" * Angels and Women :* Online text :* Official website Category:1819 births Category:1905 deaths Category:19th-century American novelists Category:19th-century American women writers Category:19th-century American writers Category:American fantasy writers Category:American women novelists Category:People from St. Albans, Vermont Category:Women of the Victorian era Category:Writers from Vermont Category:People of Vermont in the American Civil War Category:Women science fiction and fantasy writers Category:First Ladies and Gentlemen of Vermont Category:Pseudonymous writers Category:American Civil War officers